The Shinigami's True Form
by mr. 96
Summary: When Lord Death asks Maka and the others to get him a special sword, they don't know how difficult it'll be. They also don't know about Lord Death's past as a Shinigami or his true form as a person who has a voice nearly (but not quite) identical to someone they know
1. Chapter 1

**Mr. 96: Hello, hello, hello! Today I'm doing a crossover fic with the anime I love the most and the anime I end up talking about the most! It came when I was considering the multiple uses of the term "Shinigami," and was trying to rectify them all into one, but Ryuk wasn't computing too well, and with good reason, since in Bleach and Soul Eater they just come and kill you rather than writing you down in a book. So, here I am with a Bleach/Soul Eater crossover!**

**I own neither series. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo (an awesome person) and Soul Eater by Atsushi Okubo (an even more awesome person, if you think that's possible)**

"Okay, class," Professor Stein said, after he was finished calling attendance, "Today we'll be doing yet another dissection!"

"Dude, isn't it time you gave the whole dissection thing a rest?" Soul asked, leaning forward.

"Oh, this time it'll be special," Stein said, wheeling in a table, "This time you're going to be doing it on a live human being! And a Deathscythe, no less!"

"Aaaaaagh! Stein! Let me down from here!" Spirit cried, squirming around. Stein quickly tied down the restraints and whistled.

"Look what he's doing, showing off like that…" BlackStar said, very jealous that nobody wanted to dissect him yet.

"Eeeewww…..as much as I want something to happen to my dad, this is just too much, even for him," Maka said, wrinkling her face. "I hate to say it, but I think somebody should save him."

Stein looked up. "Maka, Soul, Kid, BlackStar, Tsubaki, and the twins! You're excused from class. Lord Death wants you for something."

Everyone Stein called got up, relieved they got out of dissection class, even if they felt sorry for Spirit.

"Sir, what exactly did you call us in here for?" Maka asked, "This seems rather sudden…"

"Well, it's like this," Lord Death replied, waving his head left to right. "After the Kishin Asura got out, more of his kind have been popping up, and the witches are growing more powerful too. So I want you to get me the Zangetsu. It's the most powerful weapon ever created, and the only one that doesn't have a human form."

"Father, I've heard you mention this sword before," Kid said, "But you've never told me anything about it. What exactly is this Zangetsu?"

"Strictly put, it's a sword that was used by me before Demon Weapons were created," Death said, "It's located in a shrine in Japan, but…."

"We're on it!" BlackStar said, "A super-powerful sword? Sounds like the perfect weapon for me!"

He ran off. "Wait!" Lord Death shouted out, "There's something you should know about the Zangetsu!"

He was too late, as Maka and the others had taken after BlackStar

Eventually, they had made their way to Japan. "Yahoo! My home country!" BlackStar said, "There's no way you guys can find the Zangetsu before I do! I know this country like the back of my hand!"

"Um, actually, BlackStar, you were raised in America," Tsubaki said, "I think I should be the one leading here!"

"Uhhh, I meant the two of us when I said "I", Tsubaki!" BlackStar said, his mouth twitching. Everyone looked at him as if they could tell the obvious lie he just told.

"Actually, we don't have to go through all that trouble," Kid said, "The Zangetsu's hidden inside a shrine, which my father gave us directions to. Maka, I believe you have the map?"

"Yeah, it's right here," Maka said, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. "It says we go here…..and then take a left….then a right…."

"I don't need a stupid map! I'm going to find that thing myself!" BlackStar said, jumping away.

"BlackStar, wait up!" Tsubaki said, jumping after him.

"Guess it's just you and me, eh, Maka?" Kid said, sighing.

"Yeah. BlackStar never learns." Maka said, nodding her head.

Eventually, they reached the castle. "I'm leading the way!" a voice called from the distance. "BlackStar, the temple is this way!" another voice called.

Maka heard this, and waved them over. "Tsubaki! BlackStar! Over here!"

BlackStar walked over to them. "Oh, so you're here already, are you?" he said, trying to pretend that he was there first.

"Dude, you're the ones who're late." Soul said, taking advantage of every moment of BlackStar's misery (Note: _Sorry, BlackStar fans, but your idol ranks number three on my top list of hated characters. But don't worry too bad, he's behind Ragnarok and Asura.)_

"Sorry," Tsubaki said, "We…"

"What are you talking about, Tsubaki?" BlackStar said, "Of course we could have been here earlier than you, but I just had to make sure everyone could see me come in! After all, there's nobody here!"

"No one but my family," an old man said, opening the door to the temple. "I am known simply as Miura. Come, enter, so we may discuss." He beckoned inside, and everyone followed.

"I am the guardian of the Zangetsu. For generations, my family has been a part of it. My sons, my daughter, and my grandson all do their part to protect it."

"So can we just get the sword and get over with it?" BlackStar said.

"Not so, my young one. But yes, yes, we can, come with me."

Soul looked at Maka. "Is it just me, or does this guy have a thing for saying stuff that doesn't make sense?"

Maka sighed. "It's not just you. But still, maybe he has some kind of meaning behind it. We should listen to him."

Soul sighed. "Yeah, but I don't see the point in listening to some old man."

"I hope you realize my hearing does not fail with age, young man," Miura said, looking behind him.

Soul shrugged, and moved on to the first room, not knowing what was in there…..

**Mr. 96: I just realized that a lot of the stuff I want to do with one chapter ends up on the cutting-room floor because I just plumb run out of time! Peace, brothers!**


	2. Chapter 3

**Mr. 96: Demand for this fic is so great, I'm skipping chapter two and going to the real part of the story!**

They returned back to the Death Room. "Ah! Good! You've got the Zangetsu!" Death said, greeting them, "How'd it go? Were there any troubles?"

"Don't even go there, please….." Maka said, hanging her head.

"It was a piece of cake!" BlackStar shouted, "Of course, I could carry that thing with just one hand! No, one finger!"

"…..It was impossible for you to lift, wasn't it?" Death said, having an anime sweatdrop behind his head.

"How'd you know that?" BlackStar said. "Nobody could lift a sword like that! Not even a god!"

"Well, naturally," Death said, opening the coffin, "It can't be lifted by anyone but me! And even then, I have to be in my true form to do it!"

"True form?" Maka asked, "What are you talking about, sir?"

"My father's appearance is nothing but a disguise," Kid explained, "His true form is kept underneath his robes. But even I've never seen it."

"So, you gonna show us or what?" Soul said, getting impatient that nobody was going to explain to him why on Earth they had to find a God-forsaken, hated sword.

"Very well, then," Death said, putting a hand to his mask, "I will show you….my true form." He took off his mask, and robes shot out everywhere, unwrapping from his body. When they were all gone, Death stood in a new form.

Everyone gasped in awe. Death had bright orange hair, cut short, and despite his age appeared to be a young man in his late teenage years. He wore a loose black robe, which appeared to be a samurai outfit.

Maka, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty all started blushing. "He's so unbelievably hot…." Liz said, sighing. Even Maka had to admit she agreed with Liz, although she was extremely embarrassed about it. _Stop doing that! _she hissed to herself, _You know you shouldn't be thinking like this!_

"Will you all cut that out?" Death said, becoming extremely annoyed, "I'm 800 years old and I'm _married! _Geez, it's the same thing, every time I show people my true form…."

"H…..huh?" Maka said, being put off by Lord Death's sudden apparent transition from the friendly goofball that was fit to host a children's show on PBS to an unusually irritated teenager. "Is this really the same Death that we all know?" she whispered to Soul. "He seems…..a bit different. I mean, I don't remember him ever sounding that…irritated…."

"Hell if I know. If he's kept his true form a secret, I don't think we know much about him to begin with," Soul said.

"I hope you realize I heard that," Death said, "Sigh…..my disguise forces a dummy personality onto me, so I become totally different every time I take it off. Got it now?"

Everyone became silent. "What? Is it _so _surprising that I can get angry? Kids these days…." Death sighed.

Maka giggled. "Oh, it's nothing," she said, "It's just…well, you really sound like Soul now that you're in your true form."

"I was thinking that, too….." Tsubaki said, leaning forward.

"Oh, yeah, now that you mention it, he really does sound a lot like Soul, huh?" BlackStar said.

"It's almost freakishly uncanny…." Kid said.

"What are you talking about? I don't sound like that!" Soul said, "I'm a cool guy who gets all the girls. He's an old geezer who…."

"REAPER/MAKA CHOP!" Death and Maka said at once, hitting Soul over the head—Maka with her book, Death with Zangetsu.

"C….._correction," _Soul said, bleeding, "_He's _the cool guy who can kick people's asses and get all the girls. I'm the one who runs away from fights and needs Maka to beat anyone."

"Actually, I was mad at the 'gets all the girls' part," Maka said, putting away her book.

Death sighed. "Anyway, my real name is Ichigo Kurosaki. Originally I was a normal human, but I met a Shinigami named Rukia Kuchiki. She was attacked by a Hollow, an evil spirit which I suppose was the origin of the Kishin in the modern world. When that happened, I had to take her powers. Afterwards, I met the Gotei Thirteen, the organization which most Shinigami work under, and later joined them officially. After a few hundred or thousand years or so, I never bothered to keep track of the time….well, something happened, I ended up here and now, and after observing events I decided to step in. Even so, I was way too powerful to fight without tearing up reality, so I took to wearing that disguise to not only hide my identity but also to limit my power. Even the dummy personality played into this somewhat." He scratched the back of his head, "I gotta say, I really hated wearing that…..that was the crappiest design for a costume ever created!"

"Then why on Earth were you even wearing such an uncool outfit to begin with?" Soul asked.

"Didn't you pay any attention to what I was saying? I'm not the only one at this job!" Ichigo shouted, getting angry, "It was a collaboration effort between Kid's mom, her brother, who, by the way, does my job for me every now and then, and Stein!"

Maka's eye twitched. "You mean Stein designed that? That's unlike him…"

"And I never heard you mention my mother before, father," Kid said, "Who exactly was she? Was she this Rukia you mentioned, or was she that girl in the photograph with the red hair and the large…"

"Uhh…..moving on!" Ichigo said, nervously smiling, "After a while, it got pretty busy for me. So, I started training people to take the role of the Shinigami, with the Demon Weapons replacing the Zanpaku-To. But Zanpaku-To are living creatures, so I couldn't complete it until Arachne created the Demon Weapons based on my notes."

"Okay, we get all that," BlackStar said, "But why do you need to change into your true form right now?"

"With everything in mind, I didn't have much of a choice. I can only leave Death City in my true form, and I need to do that in order to go on a special mission. The seven of you are people I can trust with the knowledge of my true form, and I had considered you for it, but….it's far too dangerous for you. The fact is, you're rookie Meisters, and I can't fight at full strength and protect you at the same time," Ichigo said, his tone becoming incredibly serious.

"What?" BlackStar asked, "But…..but I'm BlackStar! I'm the biggest Meister there is!"

Ichigo sighed. "Look, I don't wanna hurt your feelings, BlackStar, but…..you're a bit of a weakling. You're not even 'big', for crying out loud, you're actually the shortest person I know."

BlackStar became enraged at this. "I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE DEATH OR NOT! NOBODY CALLS ME WEAK! TSUBAKI! ENCHANTED SWORD MODE!"

Tsubaki seemed hesitant at this, but complied. BlackStar charged at Ichigo. The god of death became visibly annoyed and shouted "WITCH HUNTER SWORD VARIANT: GETSUGA TENSHO!" He fired a blast from Zangetsu and BlackStar was flown back.

"Get the picture?" Ichigo said, "From now on, don't go on about surpassing God. I'm the real thing, and if you're so weak that you can't take my simplest attack, well….."

Maka became frightened. That was his simplest attack….? But it was so much more powerful than the normal Witch Hunter!

"It doesn't matter how strong you are…" BlackStar said, getting up, "I'm going with you on the mission!"

"Yeah," Soul said, "You think you could just keep this from us? I gotta admit, you have the coolest voice I've ever heard, but you're the biggest jerk I've ever met if you're not gonna let us go on the mission!"

"Father, I have nothing but the utmost respect for you," Kid said, "But if you kept this from us, and then just ask us to sit back while you go on a mission that you've freely admitted is the most important and dangerous one you can go on alone…..I'm afraid I have enough reason to doubt you as it is. Please allow us to go on this mission with you, father. If it is truly as dire as you say…..you may need us."

Maka nodded. "I can't sit back and watch while you risk your life, sir!" she said, "I know it's your orders, and I know how powerful you are, but…I can't let you go on this mission alone!"

Ichigo sighed. "You know, you're all a lot like me when I was younger," he said, "Alright, let's do this: Fight me and beat me, I'll allow you to go along with me. But on the condition that you keep my true form a secret."

The group of Meisters and Weapons nodded. Soul, Liz, and Patty quietly turned into their weapon forms and flew into their respective Meisters' hands.

"Fair warning, though," Ichigo said, "If you go up against a Shinigami, there's no guarantee your soul will survive!"


	3. Chapter 4

**Mr. 96: Here it is! The bastard you've all been waiting for! Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo, and Soul Eater to Atsushi Okubo. I swear, if the two aren't related, I'll eat my sword… Oh, and the text goes like this. **"Normal dialogue is like this", _"This is Weapon Mode speech," _**"This is two characters speaking together" **_**"This is Weapon Mode speech in Bankai."**_

(Cue Mirai Sentai Timeranger intro)

_Go over time and space _(as the background music plays, facial images of Kid, Maka, and BlackStar flash around)

_Beyond the future, ride on the future _(Lord Death takes off his mask to reveal Ichigo)

_Live on my dream, live on my soul _(Maka faces Tensa Zangetsu, then the scene changes to a wolf-like Hollow and a falcon-like Hollow fighting)

_Taemanaku eien wo tokei ga kizamunara _(BlackStar jumps up and kicks several Hollows, Kid shoots at several others. They back up side-by side)

_Dore dake no shunkan wo kazoete yuku no darou _(Ichigo and Maka destroy several hollows at once, saving Kid and BlackStar)

_(Future!) Unmei nante (My dream!) kono te de kusamu _(Maka fights Soul in the Black Room, and unleashes her Weapon form)

_(My soul!) Arabu machi de mezameru kaze ga aru! _(Maka transforms Soul into Bankai mode, then clashes with Ichigo)

_It's just now! Soul Eater brightening hope! (Brightening hope!)_

_Mukidashi no sono daichi ni_

_Hotobashiru hikari wo hanatsu you ni_

_Ikusen no beyond the future_

_Toki wo koe ride on the future_

"_Ima" wo ikiru miraibito wa_

_Live on my dream, live on my soul_

_Hirakareta, ashita e to_

_(Wake up!)_

Ichigo put the sword into the ground. "Here's the deal," he said, "If you can land a single hit on me, no time limit, you win."

"HYA-HA!" BlackStar laughed. "This is gonna be a piece of cake! In fact, I'll have _you_ knocked out in ten seconds! Forget that time limit stuff!"

"Although he's being a bit obnoxious, sir, BlackStar does have a point," Maka said, "Shouldn't it be something a little more complicated than that?"

"Well, if I was in my normal form, I would say yes," Ichigo said, "But in this form…..well, let's just say that none of you are really on my level yet."

"Hah! We'll see about that!" BlackStar said.

"Oh, really, BlackStar?" Ichigo said, "Well, here's your chance." He dashed forward, and hit Maka square in the stomach. The blow sent her flying into the wall, and the impact of that left a crater there.

"MAKA!" BlackStar shouted. "Why you-!" He made a move to punch Ichigo, but Ichigo disappeared from view.

"_Flash Step," _Ichigo's voice called from behind BlackStar. "It's the ability to move at incredibly high speeds. One of the four basic moves of a Shinigami."

Kid looked at Ichigo, who appeared behind BlackStar. True, he was also a Shinigami, but he had no idea what that move was. Why didn't his father teach him that move….?

"You aren't ready to learn this technique yet, either of you," Ichigo said, Flash-Stepping towards Kid. He punched Kid in the face, then kicked him in the stomach, then knocked him out with a chop to the neck. _"Hakuda." _he said, "Hand-to-hand combat. The second of the four basic styles of Shinigami. But it's not Kid's strong point. Even though he's won against you, BlackStar….."

"You saying I'm weak?" BlackStar said, angered.

"Yes. That is exactly what I am saying, BlackStar," Ichigo said. He kicked Kid to the wall opposite of Maka, then gave BlackStar a series of punches to the gut. "Hado 31: Shakkaho." Ichigo put his palm to BlackStar's forehead, and a stream of flames erupted through BlackStar.

"_Kido. _The ability to cast spells. Only a Shinigami trained in the Soul Society can wield it properly," Ichigo explained. "But it's kind of a lost art, seeing as I'm not very good at it…"

Kid slowly broke himself out of the wall his father kicked him into. Judging from what his father said, Kido was a long-range attack. That meant that maybe he alone stood a chance against him, especially if Ichigo really wasn't so great at long-range attacks…..

"Liz! Patty! Soul Resonance!" Kid shouted.

"_Right!" _the girls said.

Kid's soul inflated. Black spikes formed on his arms, and Liz and Patty expanded into skull-themed cannons that covered Kid's arms completely.

"Execution mode, ready. Prepare to die," Kid said. Black energy began to gather around him.

"_Resonance stable. Noise level at 0.3 percent," _Liz said.

"_Black Needle soul wavelength fully charged!" _Patty said. Red rings formed around the cannons, meeting at the tip as balls of energy.

"_Preparing to fire. Feedback in four seconds," _Liz said. _"3.…"_

"_2.…" _

"_1.…"_

"_Firing now!" _Patty sang.

Kid brought the two cannons together. "Death Cannon," he said. Twin beams of energy fired at Ichigo, who sighed and put his hand to his sword. "Kid, give your old man a break!" he smiled, then immediately switched to a much more serious expression. "You automatically assume that since my weapon is a sword, I'm bad at long-range attacks?" He blocked the Death Cannon with his hand. "Plus I said you had to _touch _me, this doesn't count."

"You said I had to lay a single hit on you to win. That includes long-range attacks." Kid smiled. "And you won't be able to block the next one!"

"Maybe not. But I won't need to," Ichigo said, picking up his sword. He then opened up his coat, and Kid paused to look at the bandages that seemingly covered Ichigo's entire body. Ichigo tore the bandages off, and then he was engulfed in black flames.

Kid, afraid, fired immediately, but Ichigo emerged, clad in a black hooded long coat, and parried the blast with Zangetsu.

"GETSUGA TENSHO!" Ichigo shouted. A pitch-black Witch Hunter emerged from the blade, and the resulting shockwave broke through both blasts entirely and would have hit Kid square in the face had he not gotten out of the way in time.

Maka had a chance to look at Zangetsu now. It was now pitch black, and looked totally different-just like BlackStar's Enchanted Sword or the Yamato from Devil May Cry _(Note: In the manga, Soul once referred to Maka as an otaku, so I'm just going with the assumption that she is, okay?)._

"_Zanjutsu," _Ichigo said, "Sword-wielding capabilities. The most important part of a Shinigami's abilities." He turned to Maka. "The problem with scythes is that they're a bit unwieldy. They're big, and heavy….you have to be incredibly strong and graceful to handle one. Plus, the bladed end is pointed _towards _the user, and any weapons expert could tell you that that's a bad idea. Scythes are actually extremely impractical weapons, hard as hell to use. I only use them for ceremonial purposes. Which brings me to my next explanation: I called Getsuga Tensho a "sword variant" of Witch Hunter, but that's actually inaccurate. Getsuga Tensho is the original;_ Witch Hunter _is the variant."

"Wait a minute…why did your sword spontaneously change shape?" Kid asked.

Ichigo turned to him. _"Bankai," _he said, "When a Zanpaku-To, like Zangetsu, is materialized in the real world by its Shinigami, it can assume a more powerful form. The fact is, you're fighting at a level comparable to "Shikai" right now, and nobody has ever beaten a Bankai with a Shikai. "

Maka became deathly afraid. "It's hopeless…." she said, "We can't hope to beat him. He's way too strong." She slumped to the ground.

"_What are you saying, Maka? Pull yourself together!" _Soul shouted, _"Don't you want to go on the mission? We need to show this guy that we can help him!"_

"S….shut up!" Maka shouted, starting to cry, "We can't win. He's stronger than us."

"_But wait, Maka," _Soul said, _"A Zanpaku-To is basically a Weapon, right? Maybe I could unlock this Bankai or whatever thing!"_

Maka stood up. That did make sense to her. If a Meister was no different than a Shinigami-which increasingly seemed like the truth to her-shouldn't she be able to create a Bankai?

"How did you get that power?" Maka asked.

"Well, all right, I guess it's only fair that you should know," Ichigo said, "I created Tensa Zangetsu by materializing Zangetsu's spirit into the real world, and then subjugating him."

"Wait. Can't Weapons do that already?" BlackStar asked.

"That's in this time. Back in my day, Zanpaku-To could only be in their weapon forms. Most of the time they were kept as just regular old katanas, but I was so powerful that mine stayed in Shikai all the time. Eventually, it got to the point where it stayed in Bankai constantly. That was the reason for the bandages, they held my power in. Even when in my true form, my power is far too high for me to use it. So I have to take precautions."

"But hold on. If they couldn't take human form, how could you communicate with your Zanpaku-To?" Kid asked.

"Back then, the only way to do that was to put yourself into their inner world. The whole idea of manifesting them in the real world was to do the opposite. It normally takes hundreds of years, but mine was kind of rushed because I used an artificial device created by Shinigami Kisuke Urahara to do it in under three hours."

_Well, I think I know how to approach this, then, _Maka thought, _I've been in Soul's inner world before, so it shouldn't be too hard….._

"Kid, BlackStar, I need you to hold him off for a while," she said, "It's nothing personal, I just want to try something out."

"Okay, Maka. I hope you know what you're doing." Kid said.

"I'm not opposed to taking the spotlight all for myself, but what are you going to do?" BlackStar asked.

"There's no time to explain. Just keep him busy while I work on something." She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she was in the Black Room, with Soul.

"So, all we gotta do is fight, is that it?" Soul asked, now in his black tuxedo.

"Ah-ah! If only it were really that simple!" the Little Demon said, coming out, "Like the Kurosaki said, you need to _subjugate _Soul. And that means you must tame his untapped potential!"

"What the hell are you saying, you little bastard?" Soul asked, walking over to the oni.

"That you need to unlock your madness for this task," the Little Demon said, shrugging. "Maka must tame you, and you're far too complacent for there to be an actual subjugation."

Maka turned to Soul. "I hate to admit it, but he's right," she said, "Lord Death was only able to achieve Bankai because he could beat his Weapon in a fight. And his Weapon must have been able to fight back at full power. It won't be strong enough unless we can do that, Soul."

Soul sighed. "All right, Maka, but I hope you know what you're doing here." He turned to the demon. "What do I need to do to unlock my madness?"

The Little Demon smiled. "It's very simple, it's all in your mind," he said, "All you have to do is slip into it willingly!"

Soul smiled. "A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa…" he started laughing, "I don't even know what I'm laughing about, but it's so funny!"

He turned to Maka. "You! You're the one that's been holding me back!" he shouted. "All of my life, I could've become stronger if I just gave in to the madness! But you prevented me from doing that!"

He lunged at Maka, turning his hand into the scythe's blade. Maka's eyes widened, as his hand turned into the _entire scythe._

"Hahahaha! This is great!" Soul said, swiping at Maka as she dodged. "I don't even need you anymore! I can just _grow _myself out of my arm!"

"Soul! Stop it! This is creeping me out!" Maka shouted, dodging Soul's erratic slashes.

"Ah-ah! No tricks now!" the ogre sang, "You have to beat Soul and subjugate him to get your Bankai!"

Maka grimaced. She ran away, trying to find an escape route.

"Hahahahahaha! This is _my _soul!" Soul shouted, chasing after her, "You can't escape me!"

Maka turned around. "Maybe not," she said, "But I can't win either."

"You're making a stand against me even though you freely admit you can't win?" Soul asked, "Man, and they call me crazy….."

Maka smiled. "It's not insanity, Soul. It's courage. Or have you forgotten that feeling already?"

Soul smirked. "You think 'courage' is what I need?" he asked, "You gotta be kidding me! I don't need courage! I don't have fear anymore!"

He slashed at Maka, who got out of the way. "Ha! What happened to standing your ground?" Soul asked, smiling.

Maka kicked him in the side of the head, knocking him across the room.

_I could attack him, but he's stronger than me….._Maka thought, _If only I could shoot my Soul Wavelength against Stein, then I could do some damage! But my soul…..wait!_

She stood her ground. _My father is a Weapon, _she thought, _If that's true, maybe I could turn into one too…._

She tried making a scythe's blade. _How does Soul do it? _she thought. She didn't have time to ask him, as he was coming toward her with ten scythe-blades sticking out of his body. Just as he was about to skewer her, she ducked and slided between Soul's legs. She then made a scythe-blade with her hand and blocked Soul's swipe.

"So you were a weapon after all, then, eh, Maka?" Soul smiled, "That's another thing! You are always getting stronger! Stronger than me, your weapon! Sooner or later, you won't need me anymore!"

Maka dodged an attack by Soul. "That's not true, Soul," she said, "I do need you. I need you because…I love you."

"Eh…you what?" Soul asked, the madness subsiding. Maka saw her chance, and impaled him with scythes.

Soul smiled. "I always wanted to hear you say that, Maka," he said, "Now let's go….and give that guy the beating of his life!"

"Okay!" Maka said, "I'm waking up….now!"

Maka stood up. "It's all right now, guys," she said to Kid and BlackStar. "We were foolish to fight at a level lower than him. But I've found a way to counter his weapon!"

Ichigo looked at her for a minute, and scoffed. "Watch what you're saying there, Maka," he said, "You make it sound like you've actually found something as strong as my Bankai!"

Maka laughed. "That _is _what I'm saying, Ichigo Kurosaki," she said, finally using "Lord Death's" real name, "I have found something as strong as Tensa Zangetsu. I've found my _own _Bankai!"

Ichigo's eyes widened. "There's no way! You can't have gotten Bankai! You _can't!" _He threw his arm behind himself. "You aren't a Shinigami! And your weapon's not a Zanpaku-To!"

"You just said that Meisters and Weapons were made to serve as Shinigami and Zanpaku-To," Maka said, "If that's true, shouldn't I be able to do anything that a Shinigami can?"

_She's got me there, _Kid thought, _from what I've seen of Maka, she's been able to do anything that it took me years to master. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if one day she became stronger than I am._

"_Yeah, and besides," _Soul said, speaking up, _"I'm basically a Zanpaku-To, right? Since I can already turn human, I'm practically primed for Bankai!"_

"But….there's no way! _There's no way!" _Ichigo shouted, "A human cannot turn an independent weapon into a Bankai! It breaks all the rules of reason!"

"_Heh, now that's something you don't seem to understand," _Soul said, _"The rules of reason are simply there and made to be broken."_

Ichigo grimaced. True, that was how he lived his life a long time ago. In fact, he could now see exactly why people compared his voice to Soul's. But when was it exactly that he stopped believing in miracles….? It didn't matter now. There was no way she could achieve Bankai.

"Come on, Ichigo Kurosaki!" Maka said, raising Soul high above her head, "I'm going to show you the results of me breaking the rules of reason! This is it…my….AAAAAGH!" Her soul increased exponentially in size, and Ichigo was in shock. It was even larger than Stein's now!

"BANKAI!" Maka shouted. Before everyone's eyes, black tornadoes wrapped and spun around Maka, and flames shot up from beneath. When it all cleared, Maka stood in a different outfit. It was a black dress, similar to the one she would take when her Black Blood was controlled, but with a white jacket over it. The most noticeable change to Maka's appearance, however, was the fact that she now had _boobs._ They weren't nearly as big as Orihime's, but they were still large enough that nobody could call her "flat-chested" anymore, plus they were larger than Tsubaki's. Also, it was interesting to note that for once a Bankai had an effect on the wielder's body, which was something new.

"Soul _Eraser!" _Maka said, holding up Soul. He was no longer a scythe, now instead a perfectly white sword with a blade designed like an eagle's wing and his previously red eye changed into blue.

"_**What the hell, Maka?"**_Soul asked, _**"If you're going to make me into a Bankai, make me something cool! Like that gigantic sword in that videogame you're always playing!"**_

"You mean the Rebellion? It's not my fault!" Maka protested, "I wanted to make it like a Keyblade, but it came out like this!"

"_**Sigh…..the only thing that makes it worth being in such a lame form is the fact that it gives you boobs for once, Miss Tiny Tits!" **_Soul shouted.

"Shut up!" Maka shouted, punching Soul in the eye.

Ichigo was in awe. For a minute, he actually believed that she had done it…..but was awakened by the common sense in the back of his mind. "Come on! That doesn't prove anything!" he shouted, "You just changed Soul's form to match your characteristics and called it a 'Bankai'!"  
"Maybe that's true. Want to find out for sure?" Maka said, raising her sword. She lunged at Ichigo, who defended with his own sword. Ichigo pushed her back.

"Even if it was a Bankai, you don't have the proper control over it yet! GETSUGA TENSHO!" Ichigo shot a black Witch Hunter, which Maka parried with her sword.

_Darn it! _Maka thought, _Even now that I'm using Bankai, his powers are too much for me!_

"_**Then I guess it's my turn!" **_Soul shouted.

Ichigo swung his sword against Maka's. As they clashed, a musical note sounded throughout the room.

Ichigo paused for a minute. "That's the sound of a piano…." he said. He knew that Soul had the power to mess with people's Soul Wavelength, but he had to make sure… "Is your sword making that sound?"

"_**You got it!" **_Soul said, his voice now sounding exactly like Ichigo's. _**"Being in Bankai means my piano playing affects everyone around me! I don't even need to use Arachne's webbing anymore!"**_

Ichigo jumped back. "Are you telling me you can take control of my Soul Wavelength?"

"_**Wanna find out?" **_Soul asked Ichigo, _**"Soul Wavelength Jacker!"**_

Ichigo felt his body move against him. First he punched himself, then he felt an intense wavelength in his body, tearing his soul apart. _**"On second thought, I don't think I wanted to do this to you. I'll just make you surrender!" **_Soul said.

Ichigo stood up. "I…..Ichigo…Kurosak…." he said, looking as though he was being forced to say it, "hereby allow…..Maka, Kid, and…..BlackStar to…. NO!" He hit himself in the head. "I will not let you make me say that! I will fight!" He lunged towards Soul and Maka.

"**Increase tempo." **Soul and Maka said. Maka moved forward at an increased speed. Her strikes became quicker, more frequent, and more offensive. Ichigo felt hard-pressed to fight it off.

"_Choriki Getsuga Tensho!" _he shouted, swinging his sword in the same manner as Stein's Witch Hunter. Maka was flung back at a speed which was only accelerated by Soul's playing.

"**Tempo primo." **Maka slowed down.

"Wait…..you can control her speed even when it's not her muscles that are doing it?" Ichigo asked.

"_**That's right," **_Soul said, _**"But that's not all. Watch this: First song, Grand Forte."**_

Maka's sword changed back into a scythe, but this time it was a lot more stylized-it looked as though it were made of pure black energy, and the handle was quite thick.

"**Gospel Witch Hunter," **Maka and Soul called out together, and brought the new weapon down upon Ichigo, who parried it as best as he could. After a few minutes, the wave dissipated, and Maka looked at Ichigo, helpless.

"It's no good," she slumped to the ground, "We can't win. But it wasn't a complete loss, Soul….at least we know the existence of….Bankai…" she passed out, and Soul changed back to catch her.

Ichigo put down his sword, and clapped slowly. "Very good! You pass!" he said, "That was a most excellent win!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" BlackStar said, "We didn't knock you out or anything?"

"If you were listening to the rules, BlackStar, you would have known that we only needed to attack him once," Kid said, "But Maka didn't do that, he only blocked her."

"Oh, yes she did attack," Ichigo said, walking towards Maka, "That attack wasn't 'solid' like the normal Witch Hunter. It was 'fluid'. That means that the attack sort of spilled over when I blocked it, and it did hit me in the face! But nobody noticed because it looked like I was undamaged afterwards!"

"Anyway, as promised," he continued, waking Maka up, "I'll let you go on the mission with me!"

"You mean…..we won?" Maka asked. She couldn't hold the excitement in any longer. "YES!" she shouted, and mimicked the exact motions she did in that dream she had right before taking that super written exam, which unfortunately put her back to sleep

"Hah. Don't tell her, but it was totally worth going mad to hear her say she loved me," Soul said, carrying her away.


End file.
